BlackRock, a global investment manager, is offering $3 billion in cash and 12 million shares of BLK stock to acquire New-York based Global Infrastructure Partners.
BlackRock will acquire 100% of the business and assets of GIP for total consideration of $3 billion in cash and approximately 12 million shares of BlackRock common stock.
The deal, expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, will creates a market-leading, multi-asset class infrastructure investing platform with combined client AUM of over $150 billion across equity, debt and solutions.
The GIP management team, led by Bayo Ogunlesi and four of its founding partners, will lead the combined infrastructure platform.
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is a leading infrastructure investor that specializes in investing in, owning and operating some of the largest and most complex assets across the energy, transport, digital infrastructure and water and waste management sectors.
The company is involved in offshore wind power projects and has also stakes in Peel Ports Group.
It has also sealed a deal to sell a stake of approximately 50% in Italo – Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and to establish a long-term strategic partnership for Italo’s future development.
Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock chairman and chief executive, said: “Infrastructure is one of the most exciting long-term investment opportunities, as a number of structural shifts re-shape the global economy. We believe the expansion of both physical and digital infrastructure will continue to accelerate, as governments prioritize self-sufficiency and security through increased domestic industrial capacity, energy independence, and onshoring or near-shoring of critical sectors.”
“Policymakers are only just beginning to implement once-in-a-generation financial incentives for new infrastructure technologies and projects,” he added.
